1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet
There has never been a Golf convertible for sale in the United States. A Rabbit convertible, yes, a Cabrio, sure, and a Cabriolet, like this 1985 VW, absolutely, but a Golf convertible, never!
Right, let me explain. Volkswagen has never used the Golf name on the convertible version. When the second-generation Golf replaced the original Rabbit in the States for the 1985 model year, the original Golf/Rabbit convertible remained in production because VW never bothered with a droptop version of the Mark 2 Golf. Volkswagen of America - which wanted to distance itself from the Rabbit name, thanks largely to the negative baggage it had acquired due to spotty quality - simply renamed the convertible the Cabriolet for 1985.
And this '85 VW was for sale at the Terryville show. Here are two people checking it out with its (male) owner hidden behind the open hood.
And under that hood is a 90-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine from the Rabbit GTI.
Despite its problems in the eighties, Volkswagen continued to make interesting cars, this one courtesy of Karmann Coachbuilders. And for its American division's marketing techniques . . . yeah, I don't want to get into that.
The Cabriolet continued through 1993, and the Mark 3 Golf convertible - called the Cabrio in the U.S. - replaced it in 1995. The current Golf convertible isn't for sale in the U.S. under any name.
1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet
There has never been a Golf convertible for sale in the United States. A Rabbit convertible, yes, a Cabrio, sure, and a Cabriolet, like this 1985 VW, absolutely, but a Golf convertible, never!
Right, let me explain. Volkswagen has never used the Golf name on the convertible version. When the second-generation Golf replaced the original Rabbit in the States for the 1985 model year, the original Golf/Rabbit convertible remained in production because VW never bothered with a droptop version of the Mark 2 Golf. Volkswagen of America - which wanted to distance itself from the Rabbit name, thanks largely to the negative baggage it had acquired due to spotty quality - simply renamed the convertible the Cabriolet for 1985.
And this '85 VW was for sale at the Terryville show. Here are two people checking it out with its (male) owner hidden behind the open hood.
And under that hood is a 90-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine from the Rabbit GTI.
Despite its problems in the eighties, Volkswagen continued to make interesting cars, this one courtesy of Karmann Coachbuilders. And for its American division's marketing techniques . . . yeah, I don't want to get into that.
The Cabriolet continued through 1993, and the Mark 3 Golf convertible - called the Cabrio in the U.S. - replaced it in 1995. The current Golf convertible isn't for sale in the U.S. under any name.